We spent Christmas 2025 in Toronto at the Shangri-La, in a one-bedroom Deluxe Suite, and it was a true home away from home. The suite was soundproof, comfortable and peaceful, and the …

We stayed at the Shangri-La while we were in Toronto last Christmas, but for decorations, service and festive spirit, the Fairmont Royal York is unbeatable. We went on Christmas night, 25 December …

On December 27th, in the middle of the Distillery Winter Village, we had breakfast at Cluny Bistro & Boulangerie on Tank House Lane, in Toronto’s Distillery District. It is very popular, and …

Toronto is a big city, and big cities can lose the small, warm details of Christmas. Toronto keeps them, and the Distillery Winter Village shows how: a Christmas market set inside a …

I am usually disappointed by airport food, and by airport coffee even more. So Café Flor, on Schiphol’s D pier, was a surprise. We stopped there in May while we waited to …

Some trips to Amsterdam last a single day. A long layover at Schiphol, a cruise ship in port until the evening, a train in from Brussels or Paris: Amsterdam is easy to …

Maria Trip was 20 years old in 1639, from an extremely wealthy Amsterdam family, and she could afford Rembrandt. Standing in front of her portrait at the Rijksmuseum, my honest first thought …

I have already written about the Royal Palace on Dam Square as the town hall it was built to be: the marble Citizens’ Hall, Atlas carrying the heavens, the Vierschaar where death …

Dolls’ houses take me straight back to my childhood and my Barbie dolls’ houses. I never imagined they would end up in a national museum. I never knew they were a thing …

I met the Dutch Golden Age twice before I understood it. The first time was in London, in December 2025, in the National Gallery‘s Dutch rooms. The second was in Amsterdam in …

Two days in Amsterdam sounds tight. It is not, as long as the plan is about choosing well rather than seeing everything. The city helps. The old centre around Dam Square and …

Amsterdam is a museum city, and my week there was built around them. Van Gogh was the reason I came. Rembrandt, a royal palace and a former brewery filled the rest of …